Summary Tissue factor (TF) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that initiates blood coagulation
when complexed with factorVIIa (FVIIa).TF is constitutively expressed ina variety
of tumor cells and has been shown to playa role in cellular signaling and tumor progression.
In this study, we investigated the effect of TF-FVIIa mediated signaling on apoptosis
in human breast cancer cells. Apoptosis was induced by prolonged serum starvation
and studied using the Adr-MCF-7 cell line, which has high endogenous TF expression.
Treatment of the cells with the combination of FVIIa (10 nM) and FX (150 nM), reduced
apoptosis by nearly 50% compared with untreated, control cells using an ELISA that
detects histone-DNA fragments. In contrast, FVIIa (10 nM) alone did not significantly
prevent apoptosis. Pretreatment of the Adr-MCF-7 cells with hirudin, a specific thrombin
inhibitor, did not inhibit the anti-apoptotic effect of the combination of FVIIa and
FX, whereas this effect could be abrogated by inhibition of phosphorylation of either
p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) or protein kinaseB (PKB/Akt). In addition,
treatment of theAdr-MCF-7 cells with the combination of FVIIa and FX led to a 30-50%
increase in the level of the anti-apoptotic protein, survivin, compared with untreated
cells usingWestern blot analysis. These results indicate that formation of TF-FVIIa-FXa
complex prevents apoptosis in breast cancer cells by a thrombin-independent pathway.
Moreover, the anti-apoptotic effect of this signaling pathway involves phosphorylation
of both p44/42 MAPK and PKB/Akt and might be mediated in part by an increase in cell
survivin levels.
Keywords
Apoptosis - breast cancer - factor VIIa - factor Xa - tissue factor